Advanced Search

U-Maryland basketball legend Joe Harrington now coaching locally at Wakefield School

What do Chauncey Billups, Univ. of Colorado star and Detroit Pistons NBA Championship MVP, and Avery Morton of Wakefield School have in common?  They both have the privilege of calling Joe Harrington their head basketball coach. Wakefield School will start practice in November, heading into Harrington’s second year as it head basketball coach.

Harrington has excelled in every aspect of basketball, as a player, an assistant coach at the college and professional levels, a head coach at several colleges, a recruiter, an administrator and fundraiser He has coached many stars and learned from some of the sports’ top coaches. 

He started playing in 1955, chucking basketballs toward an old backboard and rim on his grandfather’s garage in Phipps-burg, Maine.  In 1962 and 1963, he starred at Morse High School in nearby Bath, Maine and was named a Parade High School All-American. In his last high school game, he scored 28 points with 24 rebounds, but Morse lost the New England High School Championship in the famed Boston Garden by one point.

So how did Harrington wind up at Wakefield, a private school in The Plains, VA?  He moved to the area to be near Ava, his daughter, who plays lacrosse and field hockey at Wakefield.
 
He was staying in Marshall with Tom McMillen, Parade Magazine’s top recruit, whom Harrington recruited to play at his alma mater, the University of Maryland, decades ago. When Wakefield’s basketball coach became the school’s athletic director, the job became available. McMillen got the two together the two and Harrington accepted the job offer.

During the last school year, Harrington’s first, the Fighting Owls posted a 20-5 season, losing in the state quarter finals.  He expects his team to be even better this year, having only lost one player and adding some players with size and toughness and being led by Morton. 

“Morton–at 6’2’–can play anywhere on the court He is one of the best rebounders I’ve seen and he has a great motor.  We won some early games last year, but I don’t think we will sneak up on anybody this year.” 

Harrington’s team has a fast-breaking, spread the floor team, with a little pick-and-roll offense. It presses full court. 

Wakefield, a private school, is a member of Division 3 of the Delaney Athletic Conference, along with Highland School in Warrenton, Fredericksburg Academy, Fredericksburg Christian Academy, Trinity Christian in Fairfax and Randolph Macon Academy in Front Royal. 

Harrington brings skill, knowledge and a little bit of something he learned from the coaches as he played and coached within the college and in the pro ranks.
After playing for the University of Maryland from 1963 to 1967, he was a Boston Celtics draft choice.  In 1970, he became an assistant coach at his alma mater under legendary head coach Lefty Driesell, where in addition to coaching, he helped convince McMillen and other gifted players to play at Maryland. 

In 1979, he became Hofstra’s head coach and later became George Mason’s head man from 1980 to 1987.  His next head coaching job was at Long Beach State until 1990. 
That year he was added to Coach Krzyzewski’s USA Basketball Team that competed in The Goodwill Games in Seattle and The World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

From 1990 to 1996, Harrington was Colorado University’s head coach.  Chauncey Billups, his star there, said he “loved Coach Har-rington’s teaching and coaching. My game got better playing for him.”

Harrington served the University of Maryland in several capacities, including being an assistant coach to Gary Williams. He later acted as its director of its Men’s Basketball Student Athletic Services and its Athletic Department director of special projects.

He oversaw selling pieces of Maryland’s famed Cole Field House, now its converted indoor football facility. He was an adjunct professor on basketball skills at George Mason University and has been its men’s teams radio analyst.
 
From 2011 -2015 he served as an administrator, fundraiser for Big Shots’ AAU basketball tournaments, training sessions and showcases.

In 2013, he was inducted into the inaugural State of Maine Basketball Hall of Fame.

At Wakefield, Harrington enjoys passing forward what so many great coaches taught him.
He learned fundamentally sound basketball when he played for Bud Millikan at Maryland. 
Driesell taught him to outwork his opponents, and develop a good game plan for each foe.
Carter studied the tendencies of his own players to know what to expect from each. 
Harrington saw that Krzyzewski’s Army background allowed him to believe in his players and build pride in their program.
“That is what I am trying to do,” Harrington said, “Develop ‘Wakefield pride.’”

Harrington was a teammate and later an assistant coach at Maryland with Gary Williams, who is known for his intensity. “He kept things simple. He was thorough and consistent, Harrington said.  “He believed in his system.  He coached like he played.”

Harrington realizes he needs more patience coaching at high school than he did in college and the pros.  He added, “It is very gratifying watching the players grow and improve, vastly.”
Harrington has worked at Battlefield High School’s basketball camp run by Maryland alumnus Chuck Driesell, but he also runs his own.
Although Wakefield extends no athletic scholarships, Harrington’s stature draws the attention of prospects. Rarely does a high school enjoy the services of a coach with such a high-profile resume. 

While he goes all out as Wakefield’s coach, the low-keyed coach still is passionate about University of Maryland, and to a lesser extent, the New England Patriots.

Harrington is hoping Morton and his fellow Owls will have a season to remember, continuing to propel the program higher, just as Billups, Vince Carter, Charles Oakley, Dell Curry and Tracy McGrady did when he was an assistant with the Toronto Raptors.

He said Morton is like Billups in terms humility and appreciating the opportunities and skills he has been given, adding, “They are incredibly competitive with a love for the game.” 

It is fun to have a coach and a team that wins, but David Colin, Wakefield School’s headmaster, also appreciates Harrington’s character and concern for academics. 

Link to This Article

Copy and paste the code below on your site to link to the article.

<a href="http://www.bullrunnow.com/sports/article/07130">U-Maryland basketball legend Joe Harrington now coaching locally at Wakefield School</a>

Follow Us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/bullrunnow
Welcome Guest! | Login